The Right Time
by silver-winged-link
Summary: Arnold and Helga seem to fall for each other, but at different times. Helga returns from studying abroad for her senior year of high school. Does she still feel the same way about Arnold? Can Arnold break down her barriers and win her heart? Can they ever get the timing right? -Rated M for possible lemons!


Chapter 1

Excited babbling, flustered faces, gossip, lockers slamming; it was the first day of school, and there was a lot of excitement.

A tall, lean boy with flaxen blonde hair leaned casually against his locker, checking his watch: 7:30am. He looked up when his best friend strolled up to him.

"Hey Arnold! Show me your schedule, we better have the same lunch period again, or our 7 year record is shot!" Gerald smoothes his hand over his closely shaven head before snatching the schedules in Arnold's hand.

"You know," Gerald said, scanning the piece of paper, "I've kind of been finding it hard to believe, but we're _seniors_ now dude! It's a fresh start for everyone, including you, so let's live it up this year, yeah?"

Arnold thought about this for a moment before giving a small snort. He hadn't had the best of luck the past couple years in school. That's not to say he didn't get good grades and all, he'd never had a problem with that; and it's not like he didn't have a lot of friends either. He'd actually become pretty popular among his peers. He was tallish, about 5'11, and lean, but not bony. He'd built muscle after joining the school's baseball team. He'd gotten pretty good especially after all those afternoons playing at Gerald park when he was a kid. So, needless to say, he was fairly popular with the girls.

Despite this fact, Arnold hadn't dated for quite some time. Their freshman year of high school, Arnold started dating Lila. He had been pining after her for some time, and finally got her to agree to go out with him. They dated for his whole freshman and sophomore year. She eventually became very distant and uninterested in him until she finally dumped him. He heard through the family grapevine that she was dating his cousin Arnie. Whether there was any overlap of their relationships, he didn't know at the time.

That was a hard time for him, and he took comfort with his friends and family. Strangely enough, that was around the same time he began really hanging out with Helga Pataki. They'd always had a pretty complicated relationship, but her crass sense of humor and brazen disposition really helped pull him through that time in his life, and he was really in her debt for it. Unfortunately, to Arnold's disappointment, the next year, when they became juniors, Helga flew off unannounced to South Africa for a foreign exchange program. She was replaced by a shy, friendly South African boy named John. He was fun and smart, but the gap left by Helga's presence was large, and honestly, very unexpected.

"Hey man, don't sweat it, I'm sure she'll be back this year," said Gerald, slapping the schedule onto Arnold's chest, making him jump, pulling him out of his train of thought."

"W-what?" Arnold stammered, "Wait, hey! Gerald!" Gerald started walking backwards towards his first class, waving back at Arnold.

"Haha, see you later dude!"

The first bell rang, so Arnold shrugged it off, slung his backpack over one shoulder, and headed towards class.

As usual, the first day of class dragged on. But there was new anxiousness in the pit of Arnold stomach with each new classroom he stepped into, as if he something were waiting for him there. He tried to stifle the feeling and figured that it was due to senior year jitters. He quickly squashed the feeling.

After 2nd period, Arnold stopped by his locker again and was greeted by Gerald and his longtime girlfriend phoebe. They had finally started dating the middle of sophomore year after years of subdued flirting and cautious move-making. Arnold had gone on a few double dates with Lila and them. Phoebe never seemed to like Lila that much, but everyone enjoyed themselves all the same. Gerald and Phoebe were good for each other.

Gerald had his arm wrapped around phoebe's tiny shoulders while she was rummaging around in her locker. As Arnold approached, he could hear the tail end of what phoebe was saying.

"…been in contact the whole time mostly, so I know for sure that she's really excited about—'

"Arnold! Hey man!" Gerald cut her off, waving and motioning him over.

"Hey Gerald. How've you been Phoebe?" Arnold nodded to her.

"I had a great summer, thanks! How about you Arnold?" She laced her hands with Gerald's and cocked her head into his side.

"Spent most of it helping Grandpa around the boarding home," He smiled and shook his head, "sometimes he doesn't realize how old he actually is."

Arnold shifted on his feet for a moment before asking, "So what were you guys talking about before I got here?"

This made phoebe's face light up, and a smirk crept across Gerald's face. Phoebe exclaimed, "Oh! Well I was just telling Gerald that H—"

Again, she was cut off, this time by the first bell, signaling that there was 5 minutes till class.

"Sorry Arnold, We'll talk later." She gave a small smile and a little wave as Gerald led her down the hall. Gerald looked back, smirking at Arnold over his shoulder.

In his next class, Precalc, Arnold tuned out the teacher, who was going a the syllabus even though it's basically the same for every class, every year. His mind wandered, and stretched out over the desk. All morning he had been saying hi, and exchanging small conversations with his classmates. Stinky and Sid had been working at the local grocery store all summer, saving up for cars. Rhonda and Nadine spent the summer tanning and lazing around at Rhonda's summerhouse. Eugene and his boyfriend Charley spent the summer working on their independent film they were doing together.

Everyone seemed happy and prepared for their senior year and were diving into it headfirst. Arnold felt as if he were the only person in his whole class who was hesitant, as if there were something he needed before he could fully let go and enjoy himself.

The bell rang, announcing the end of 3rd period and the beginning of 4th. As much as this day was dragging on, it was going by really fast.

Arnold grabbed his back, ran his fingers through his hair, and made his way to his next class, this time accompanied by Sid.

Sid was going on about the exact specifications of his new something-or-other car that he was going to get, when Arnold froze in his tracks. Walking down the hall, directly across from him, was Helga G. Pataki. But this wasn't the 15-year old girl he remembered from 10th grade at all.

Over the year she was gone, she had grown taller, and slightly thinner. Her normally bright blonde hair was goldened from the sun, and was tied loosely with a pink ribbon in a side ponytail that draped over her shoulder.

She wore a simple white, slim-fitting tshirt, and loose skinny jeans. Her outfit was plain, but all she had to do was wear it, and her figure took care of the rest. She was effortlessly beautiful. The only thing about her appearance that she seems to care about was her smoky eyeliner, and her long black eyelashes. Arnold's stomach fluttered. He felt like his feet were glued to the ground.

Arnold stood and stared. Sid stopped to see what he was looking at.

"Oh hey! Helga's back. Better watch out Arnold, she may just pummel again." He laughed and motioned for Arnold to follow him to class.


End file.
